CRANSTON, R.I. — Capping a state police investigation of a controversial parking ticket blitz, acting city Police Chief Kevin M. Barry on Thursday suspended the captain who ordered the blitz, preparatory to an effort to have him fired.

Mayor Allan W. Fung subsequently announced that Capt. Stephen Antonucci, president of the city police labor union, is charged with seven violations of the Police Department code of ethics and regulations, as the result of the investigation.

The ticket blitz instigated an internal Police Department probe superseded by the state police probe; prompted a mayoral appointment of Barry, a state trooper, as acting police chief; indirectly led to the retirement of Marco Palombo Jr. as chief, and stirred up a political furor.

Under a Rhode Island statute called the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights, an ad hoc disciplinary committee of three people decides whether and how severely an officer may be disciplined for alleged misconduct, including dismissal from the police force.

The statute requires that an officer who faces charges in the noncriminal bill of rights trial process be paid if he is suspended from duty while the matter is resolved.

Antonucci has acknowledged publicly that he ordered the ticketing over two or three days in mid-November in Wards 1 and 3. City Councilmen Steven A. Stycos, D-Ward 1, and Paul H. Archetto, D-Ward 3, alleged that an extraordinary number of tickets — 128 — were issued in retaliation for their having voted against a proposed labor contract that the police union wanted.

Speaking for Antonucci in January, union lawyer Joseph J. Rodio said that the ticketing only coincided with the vote on the police contract by happenstance and that Antonucci was merely complying with requests from the mayor’s office and council members that the police enforce a city ban on overnight on-street parking.

Speaking for the union Thursday, Rodio said the alleged motive of retaliation is a subjective matter, that Antonucci cannot be punished for the lawful activity of ticketing and that Antonucci will stay on as union president during his suspension.

Antonucci, who has his own lawyer, could not be reached for comment.

Within minutes of Barry having suspended Antonucci and presented him with the charges, at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Fung called a news conference at City Hall to announce the results of the investigation. Antonucci was required to turn in his badge and service equipment, including his weapon.

Barry said later that it is his decision, as acting chief, to suspend Antonucci and to ask a bill of rights committee to dismiss him. He said that he did not consult Fung in advance and that he notified the mayor on Wednesday.

There was “no internal pressure” within city government regarding what direction the investigation should take, how it should be done and at what pace, or what its outcome should be, Barry said.

He declined to specify the charges against Antonucci, saying that to do so might violate the bill of rights.

Antonucci — identified by the mayor as the accused officer — is the only officer to be charged with misconduct.

Col. Steven G. O’Donnell, state police superintendent, said the investigation is now complete, that no criminality was discovered and that the work product of the investigation is a single charging document rather than a written report.

Some council members have complained about the duration of the approximately three-month-long state police investigation. O’Donnell responded that the probe lasted as long as it took “to get it right.”

“Anybody who possibly had anything to do with [the ticketing] was interviewed” in the investigation, including the mayor and Palombo, who was police chief at the time of the ticketing, he said.

Palombo “had no culpability,” O’Donnell said. Fung has scoffed at reporters who asked if he had anything to do with it personally.

Palombo initiated an internal investigation of the ticketing when it was brought to his attention by a news reporter’s inquiry, but Fung later opted for a state police investigation and put Palombo on paid administrative leave while it was conducted. Barry was made acting chief, also at Fung’s request, and Palombo subsequently retired.

Fung spokesman Carlos E. Lopez said the mayor is satisfied with the thoroughness of the investigation, conducted by state police Capt. Benjamin Barney and Sgt. Christopher DiComitis, and the outcome.

A separate assessment of police operations by Barry and another trooper is still under way.

Palombo’s retirement, Fung said, “presents the city with an opportunity to bring in a new leader who can bring the department together, clarify expectations of conduct for our officers and uphold the standards of conduct expected of all officers.”

Fung said that he wants to negotiate changes in the police contract in order “to draw a cleaner line between the union and management.”

“We’re going to advocate that captains be taken out of union membership,” he said.

The mayor is beginning to set up the search process for a new chief and he said that candidates from inside and outside the department will be considered.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.